Hello, all. We were just working on our first newsletter, which will be heading to all our subscribers tomorrow, when we learned of some important news we wanted to share right away.
Today, the current owners of the Royal Vauxhall Tavern – James Lindsay and property development company Immovate – have launched a new website, www.lovethervt.com. This site aims to attract signatures to a petition opposing the application to Historic England (formerly English Heritage) to make the RVT a listed building – an application our campaign has worked very hard to file.
We recommend you DO NOT SIGN THIS PETITION!
The owners’ argument is that a Historic England listing would saddle the Tavern with extra costs that could spell financial ruin and even closure. This is nonsense. Historic England seeks to protect our social and architectural history and takes great care to preserve commercial viability.
A listing would be no obstacle at all to the RVT continuing to run as it always has. It wouldn’t get in the way of regular upkeep of the building or changes to its interior. It wouldn’t add to running costs. It wouldn’t make any difference to business as usual. If anything, the Tavern would benefit from becoming a global landmark – the UK’s first venue protected on the basis of its contribution to LGBTQ culture.
The fact is hundreds of pubs and vibrant businesses operate out of listed buildings – such as the Ivy House in Nunhead, a pub that was threatened with redevelopment and is now community-owned.
The only things that would be impacted by a listing are the ease with which the Tavern could be redeveloped as something other than a pub and its market value… So we need to ask ourselves: why might the international property development company Immovate not be cool with that?
If you agree with us that this sort of scaremongering is nonsense, and you want to support our campaign, you can help us. If you see people sharing the link to the petition against the listing, please make them aware of three things:
- The petition to prevent the listing has been created with a property development firm.
- Immovate (the property development firm) has refused to engage in any discussion with the RVT Future campaign on any level, despite repeated requests. They have made no public statement about their intentions for the Tavern’s future.
- The best way you can secure the Tavern’s future is to keep going, to keep putting your money behind the bar, and to keep caring about its future.
Please direct people to this website to read about our campaign and sign up to our newsletter. We’re hosting a get-together on Sunday 21 June (more details to follow) where we’ll be updating our supporters on the progress of our Historic England application.
THANK YOU for your support. If you truly love the Tavern, please help us by setting right the misconceptions about the listing and join us as we seek to ensure a thriving future for the UK’s oldest LGBTQ pub and iconic performance space.